National PFAS News and Hopes What’s in Store for the West Plains?
November 18 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
A Free Public Meeting by West Plains Water Coalition
When: Monday Nov 18 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Where: The HUB, 12703 W 14th (US Highway 2), Airway Heights, WA
Spokane- Since 2017, when PFAS from firefighting operations at Fairchild Air Force Base was discovered in the municipal water of Airway Heights, Fairchild engineers have been assessing the groundwater contamination near the Base. Throughout the West Plains, hundreds of private wells have been contaminated by PFAS “forever chemicals” from firefighting foam, and many homes have received filter systems from the Air Force.
The main flows of contaminated groundwater travel northeast towards the Spokane River, away from the Medical Lake area, but recent well testing and surface water west and south of the Base causes additional concern in areas long considered upstream from Fairchild.
These PFAS compounds may lead to severe health risks, including increased cholesterol levels, decreased birth weights, decreased immune response to vaccines, changes in liver enzymes that indicate liver damage, increased risk of blood pressure problems during pregnancy, increased risk of thyroid disease and increased risk of testicular and kidney cancer, per the Washington State Department of Health.
Nearly a thousand American Communities across the country grapple now with the health and economic impacts of these “forever chemicals”.
Dr. Cordner’s talk will explain the national context of PFAS contamination, including scientific advances, drinking water safety regulations, and funding for testing and cleanup activities. Only the highest levels of federal policy improvements and cleanup funding have the power to address PFAS across the country. Washington is a national leader in environmental stewardship, but State and local funding is not sufficient.
This event is free and open to the public, inviting PFAS questions from any listener.
Featuring Guest Speaker
Alissa Cordner, the National PFAS Project and Whitman College
Alissa Cordner is Associate Professor of Sociology at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. She teaches courses in sociology and environmental studies, including Environmental Sociology, Environmental Health, Social Research Methods, Sociology of Health and Illness and Environmental Justice.
Professor Cordner is the co-director of the PFAS Project Lab (PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) with researchers at Northeastern University. The lab focuses on social and scientific questions related to perfluorinated chemicals. This project engages Whitman students every year as research assistants. Alissa also serves on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Management (NASEM) Standing Committee on the Use of Emerging Science for Environmental Health Decisions
Her research focuses on environmental sociology, the sociology of risk and disasters, environmental health and justice, and politics and participation. Her two major areas of research are the social and political aspects of wildfire risk management and the social and scientific discoveries of perfluorinated chemicals.
Her award-winning 2016 book, Toxic Safety: Flame Retardants, Chemical Controversies, and Environmental Health, examines how environmental health risks are defined and contested, in the face of unavoidable scientific uncertainty and competing, powerful stakeholders. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research on a controversial class of chemicals used as flame retardants, Toxic Safety shows that stakeholders’ strategic interpretations and presentations of scientific rationality, uncertainty and evidence directly impact environmental and public health.
Her published articles appear in the journals Environmental Sociology, The American Journal of Sociology, Health Affairs, Social Movement Studies, Environmental Science & Technology, Social Studies of Science, the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Teaching Sociology and Social Science & Medicine.
For more detail about PFAS and the Coalition, or to sign up for ongoing information, visit http://westplainswater.org/
About the West Plains Water Coalition
West Plains Water Coalition is an all-volunteer citizen group bringing attention to PFAS-polluted wells and groundwater across the West Plains region of Spokane, Washington. The Coalition is a registered 501(c)(3) charity.
Media Contact:
John Hancock, President, West Plains Water Coalition Phone: (509) 869-2931
Email: hancock@westplainswater.org www.westplainswater.org
This event is funded by the Public Participation Program of the Washington State Department of Ecology, but not necessarily endorsed by the agency.